HC 9

Q9. Is God, then, not unjust by requiring in His law what man cannot do?

No, for God so created man that he was able to do it. But man, at the instigation of the devil, in deliberate disobedience robbed himself and all his descendants of these gifts.

Proof texts

• Gen. 1:31 — [31] And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
• Gen. 3:13 — [13] Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
• John 8:44 — [44] You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
• 1 Tim. 2:13-14 — [13] For Adam was formed first, then Eve; [14] and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
• Gen. 3:6 — [6] So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
• Rom. 5:12 — [12] Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned —
• Rom. 5:18-19 — [18] Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. [19] For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.

For discussion

1. The Assembly cited Gen. 1:31 in support of this answer. Read it in context — how does it bear on what is claimed here?
2. 7 passages are cited here. Which does the most work, and is anything claimed that the proofs do not obviously carry?
3. BC 2.1 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?
4. BC 2.2 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?

Read alongside

BC 2.1 · BC 2.2 · BC 2.3 · BC 2.4 · BC 4.1 · BC 4.2 · WCF 2.1 · WCF 2.2 · WCF 2.3 · WLC Q6 · WSC Q4 · WSC Q5 · WSC Q6 · WCF 6.1 · WLC Q21 · WSC Q13 · 1689 2.1 · 1689 2.2 · 1689 2.3 · 1689 6.1 · 1689 6.2 · 1689 6.3 · 1689 6.4 · 1689 6.5